Review

Who cares what the old fans think, out with the old in with the new. Bands go in different directions for a reason. I see why Finch went in a direction that most of the old fans wouldn’t like because they knew how to cipher out the good from the bad. They could have easily made a “What is to Burn” part II but they didn’t lose their dignity. They created an album that broke the limits on what I thought of Finch as a band. They have songs that sound so dark and evil that you don’t even realize how beautiful it really is.

I am going to start out with the most interesting song on the album, one that I personally like. This song being “The Casket of Roderick Usher,” which has the mathy feel to it like a Dillinger Escape Plan song and it is simply ruthless in regards to what they are used to. If you played this in front of me and told me that it was Finch, I wouldn’t believe you. I am shocked because it really is. In addition, it makes me love the song even more because it shows the very lengths and extremes they went to on this album to alter their sound.

On “Reduced to Teeth,” hands down I love the lyrics and the feel of this song the most. It is a song that is majestic in a sense. The harmonics being played on guitar during the verse makes the effect all the more reason to embrace the beauty of the song. So dark and angry that turns into a complete other song towards the end. “All the kings horses and all the kings men, have been sent to put this boy back together again, but somehow, he must have been predicting the fall,” and from there is explodes and soon there after ends.

“Insomniatic Meat” and “Ink” are the two songs that stand out in the accessible category. “Oh my God I think I’m blind” is probably my favorite first line of an album ever. When you pop it in your stereo and that’s the first words spoken from the album, you have to be thinking what I in for am. It is a true representation of the album because if you hadn’t heard any song before purchasing this CD. If you thought “What is to Burn” fame was to come up again, your thoughts would be you are blind because you have no idea what they did with themselves. Ink is similar in the fact it was in the popular video game Madden 06 and it sort of opened my eyes that they would be in such a popular video game. Very catchy song lyrically and instrumentally which makes it a great song to have in a game or on the radio.

The next bulk of enjoyable songs are “Ravenous,” “Dreams of Psilocybin,” and “Revelation Song.” Ravenous sticks out from this bunch with the mix with a really cool intro on guitar, well just the first 5 seconds, and then the part that I think is completely unnecessary, which is just like 4 notes being played on a guitar in the background that doesn’t really flow at about 8 seconds into it. Strong track overall.

“Revelation Song” is really catchy in my opinion, and just an enjoyable track to listen to. It has a great chorus and a pretty intense bridge that lasts a long duration in the song. I was impressed quite a bit with this song.
I was more than pleased with how they ended the album. Starts out with a quite weird intro but goes into a fantastic song full of everything that the album is about. From the snare-drum rhythms that remind me of “The Casket…” to the lyrical changed in tone like in “Reduced to Teeth.”

Now, to sum up the songs I have not touched based on. Songs such as “A Piece of Mind,” “Brother Bleed Brother,” and “Bitemarks and Bloodstains” are all good songs, just nothing blares out in me that makes it individually great. The rest of the songs I am not really fond of that much, I absolutely hate “Hopeless Host.” They start off the song slow and just overall boring and the others are just mediocre in their own ways.

What was the last record for Finch, turned out to a tumultuous journey filled with twists and turns for some, while others it was an embrace on what they gave to our ears as listeners. This CD may have not be compiled together that well as far as song order and such, but disregarding a few, together this CD is strong. I too may have lost some fans of my opinion on this CD because they think “What is to Burn” is the pinnacle of Finch but as with them, I accepted the fact that they were looking in a different direction. The short lived legacy known as Finch are over, but their sound has been passed on and will continue to be influenced by musicians alike.

Great album, a lot better than WIITB. That album was way too cookie-cutter for me. I like the weirdness in this album, the off-kilter guitar riffs f*ckin' rock, and Nate's vox are amazingly good, too. A solid 4/5.

its a shame that they broke up because this was a huge progression from their last album and arguably, they were just beginning to localize their sound. It would've been really interesting to see what they were really capable of

Such an awesome and underrated album. I think they tried really hard to make a really inventive album with all the guitarwork and the weird timings and rythms and it's such a shame that no one gave it a chance or dismissed it. I think it's VERY reminscent of Glassjaw and fans of said band should give it a try.

This album kinda has a Pinkerton complex to it. Everyone trashed the hell out of it critically at first, but I think they took some incredibly bold steps in a new direction from WIITB and a few years down, people will see its greatness. This record has it all - catchy songs, variation in songwriting, tone, and feel from song to song, a weird/creepy atmosphere, and awesome guitar and stellar drumming. Not to mention Nate's vocals are one of the better efforts in recent post-hardcore albums... I still listen to it all the time.

I agree with the Pinkerton complex to an extent. I just don't think that it will be considered that good, but I can see scores of people realizing it is better than they originally thought. I think in order for people to really appreciate this, they need to erase the fact that the same band released What It Is To Burn, because that is, in my opinion, the key reason for hindering the image of this album.

Yeah, I'm not giving it like a 5 or anything, I just think this album is a grower and quite underrated. With every post-hardcore band seemingly trying to distance themselves from the pack by changing their core sound, Finch were one of the first to break away and do it the right way. It's sad that the negative reaction to this album basically broke the band up, a third album would have been really interesting. I agree about everyone unfairly comparing it to WIITB, which in my opinion is a completely bland pop-punk album that can't touch Say Hello To Sunshine.